Joint investigation team constituted to probe Islamabad suicide bombing case
Dec 25, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], December 25 : The Chief Commissioner's Office of Islamabad formed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) today to investigate the Islamabad suicide bombings of December 23 in which a policeman of Pakistan police was killed, The Dawn reported.
This came a day after Pakistan's Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Operations Sohail Zafar Chattha had made such a request. The Dawn cited a notification which said that the JIT is constituted under Section 19-A of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 to investigate the case registered on Dec 23 on charges of 7ATA, along with PPC Section 302, 324, 427 and 4/5 Explosive Act at the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) police station, Islamabad.
Headed by the Counter Terrorism Department's (CTD) Senior Superintendent Of Police (SSP) the JIT will include representatives from Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Intelligence Bureau (IB), and other police personnel. However, the station house officer of the CTD will be the investigating officer for the case, according to the Dawn report.
The JIT is directed to complete the investigation within the time that has been directed under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997 (ATA). Further according to the Dawn report there are contradictory statements coming during the investigation regarding the number of people involved in the case.
During the investigation of the case, an injured policeman from the case on Saturday said that there were three people in the car involved in the blast. However, the police statement claims that there were just two people involved in the blast. One of which was the driver and the second one being the driver of the car.
The Dawn reported, that the driver of the car and the suicide bomber were killed in the bombings. The remains of these two conspirators and the policeman that was killed in the bombings were sent to the hospital.
The Dawn quoted sources in the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) who said that the body parts of only two persons - the policeman and the 'suicide bomber' - were received. The identification of the man can be established through the face which was recognizable, they claimed.
The police have informed that the identity of the deceased will be established based on the driver's torso, head, and face recovered. According to Dawn's report, at least four policemen injured in the blast were discharged from the hospital, the capital police said, adding that statements of ASI Raza Hassan, HC Yousaf, constable Hanif, and Constable Bilal were also recorded.
The police driver injured in the blast stated that a car entered I-10/4 from I.J. Principal Road in which two persons along with a driver were on board. After stopping the vehicle Head Constable Syed Adeel Hussain asked the driver of the car for documents and his colleagues Yousaf and Bilal were inspecting the other man in the suspected car. As these police personnel could check the backseat the men in the car blew themselves.
